Sliding door for display cases



Jan. 5, 1937. H. E. CASE 2,067,118

` SLIDING DOOR FOR DISPLAY CASES Filed March 27. 1956 Patented Jan. 5, 1937 wenn PATET OFFICE SLIDING DOOR FOR DISPLAY CASES Harry E. Case, Trenton,

N. J., assignor to The LuzerneRubber Company, Trenton, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 27,

9 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in display cases, and more especially to. those of the class having sliding doors to provide access thereto and which are removable from the case,

the invention relating more particularly to display cases such as employed by butchers which are refrigerated.

In cases of this class, apair of sliding doors are usually employed, the doors having grooves in their upper and lower edges which cooperate with rails on the upper and lower frames of the door opening, the doors overlapping while they are both in closed position, the doors being movable upwardly to disengage them from the lower rails and thus permit insertion and removal thereof, but in cases of this kind as heretofore constructed the clearance spaces provided above the doors to permit raising thereof and the groove in the upper edge of the outer door leaves a passageway which allows air to enter or to flow from the interorof the case, which is objectionable, especially in refrigerator cases.

yThe primary object ofthe present invention is to provide novel and improved means for preventing such passage of air into or out of the case while the doors thereof are closed and, at the same time, permitting lifting of either of the doors, whenever necessary, to permit removal thereof, without requiring that the door be brought to any particular position for such purpose.

Another object of the invention is to provide such air sealing means which is readily applicable to cases of this class and which avoids the necessity of notching the doors or otherwise mutilating the parts thereof.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the features of novelty being pointed out more particularly in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of a display case embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2, and

Figure 4 is a detail perspective View of the sealing block according to the present invention.

Similar parts are designated by the same reference characters in the several figures.

'I'he present invention is applicable generally to display Cases and the like having doors slid- 1936, Serial No. 71,288

ably mounted therein so that they may be opened and closed, and more especially to cases in which the sliding doors are removable, as by lifting them in the door opening. The invention is more particularly applicable to butchers display 5 cases or the like which are refrigerated, it providing novel and improved means for sealing the space heretofore left above the doors in cases of this class so as to prevent leakage of air from the outside of the case into the case, or vice Versa, 10 and the improved sealing means provided by the present invention enables one or another of the doors to be removed from the case, when desired or necessary, while the door occupies' any position along its guides, that is, without rel5 quiring that the door to be removed be brought to any particular position in the door opening.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing wherein i represents a display case which may be of a 20 usual form such as used by butchers and provided with any usual means for refrigerating it, a side of the case having a door opening 2 in which a pair of doors 3 and 4 are slidable horizontally, these doors being of such dimensions 25 in the direction of the length of the door opening as to overlap at their inner ends when fully closed, as shown in Fig. 1, either door however, being movable from its closed position toward the other end of theY door opening to permit access to 30 the interior of the case.

The doors are mounted to slide on horizontal rails provided at the upper and lower edges of i the door opening. In the present instance, up-

per and lower frame members 5 and 6 are pro- 35 vided for guiding the doors, these frame members being preferably composed of hard rubber and may be channel shaped in cross section to receive the upper and lower edges of the case as Y .shown in Fig. 2, the upper frame member 5 hav- 40 ing upwardly extending flanges 'l which embrace the inner and outer walls of the case at the top of the door opening and the lower frame member 6 having downwardly extending ilanges 8 to embrace the inner and outer walls of the case 45 at the bottom of the door opening. The upper frame member 5 is provided with a pair of downwardly projecting parallel ribs or rails 9 and I Lto project into grooves Il and l2 formed in and extending throughout the lengths of the upper 50 edges of the doors 3 and ll, and the lower frame member 6 is provided with a pair of upwardly projecting parallel ribs or rails i3 and it adapted to slidably engage in grooves l5 and I6 formed in and extending longitudinally throughy out the lengths of the lower edges of the doors 3 and 4 respectively. These upper and lower rails 9 and Ill and I3 and I4 extend continuously throughout the lengths of the upper and lower edges of the door opening and slidably guide the doors in their movements into open and closed positions. The upper edges of the doors are spaced from the lower face of the upper frame member 5 and the grooves II and I2 in the upper edges of the doors are sufficiently deep to permit either of the doors to be lifted from itsv lower rail I3 or I4 to disengage such rail from the groove in the lower edge of the door and thus permit the bottom of the door to be swung outwardly over the rail and thus removed from the case. To facilitate such outward swing of one or the other door for removal and also for insertion into the case by a reverse operation to that just described, the inner sides of the upper rails 9 and I0 are preferably bevelled, as shown at 9a and lilla respectively. The doors 3 and 4 preferably each comprise a frame composed of hard rubber or other suitable material having glass panels I'I and I8 mountedl therein by soft rubber strips IS and V2i) which form air tight joints around the edges of the glass panels, the edges of the glass panels being clamped respectively between inturned flanges 2| and 22 on the outer sides of the door frames and an angle iron 23 secured as by screws to the respective door frame and filled with a caulking compound 24 and a hard rubber glazing strip 25 secured to the respective door frame by screws 26. The doors in cases of this class, usually occupy an inclined position as shown in Fig. 2 in order to prevent inward and outward movement of the upper portions of the doors, due to the clearances between the grooves in the upper edges of the doors and the upper rails 9 and IU, but the present inventionA is equally applicable to doors which are mounted vertically, the sealing means provided by the present invention preventing such movement of the doors if mounted vertically.

In cases of this class as heretofore constructed,

t theclearance space provided above the upper edges of the doors for removal thereof and thel upper groove in the outer door leave an open passageway, when the doors are fully closed, through which air may ow from the exterior to theinterior of the case, or vice versa, and

such leakage of air lowers the eiciency of refrigeration and is otherwise objectionable. The present'inventiony provides means for sealing such passage against the entrance or escape of air without however, interfering with the removal or insertion of either of the doors so that either door may be removed or inserted at any position along the guiding rails. The sealing means according to the present invention comprises a sealing block 30l composed of hard rubber or other suitable rigid'material which is inserted in a recess 3I formed in theupper frame member 5 and the wall ofthe case immediately above it in the region where the doors overlap when Y fully closed, although it may extend beyond such region of overlap, and is of a width necessary to extend over and close the space left above one or both doors. This sealing block for example, which is shown in the present instance applied to doors grooved at their upper edges to receive guide rails, is of a width to extend from the front Wall of the upper outer rail IU substantially to the front outer wall of the upper inner rail 9, the upper outer rail l0 being interrupted at a pointl centrally of its length as shown in Fig. 3

to accommodate the sealing block. The rear portion 32 of the sealing block is of a width and vertical height to bear on the upper edges of the doors 3 and 4 between the upper grooves II and I2 therein, and the sealing block is provided' with an extension 33 which projects downwardly beyond the portion 32 thereof and is of a width and depth to fit closely in the upper groove I2 in the outer door and engage the bottom of this groove and thus ll it, as shown in Fig. 2. The portion of the sealing block above the upper frame member 5 is provided with lugs or extensions 34 which are arranged to rest on the upper side of this frame member when the sealing block occupies its normal operative position with the portion 32 thereof engaging the upper edgesv of the doors and the extension 33 thereof filling the upper groove in the outer door, these lugs preventing dropping of the sealing block from its recess vwhen the doors are removed from the case. The sealing block may be maintained in sealing engagement with the upper edges of the doors by gravity, it being yieldable upwardly in its recess when either door is lifted for removal or insertion. It is preferable however, to provide means for kyieldingly holding the sealing block in its operative sealing relation vwith the upper edges of the doors, as by providing a body of sponge rubber 35 or other suitable yielding means in the recess above the sealing block and which will be compressed when the sealing block is forced upwardly by the lifting of either door for removal or insertion, such yielding means however, maintaining the sealing block normally in sealing relation with the doors.

By mounting a sealing block according to the present invention in the upper frame member of the door opening, effective closing of the space above the upper edges of the doors where the doors overlap when closed, is accomplished, thus effectively preventing the flow of air into or out of the case through such space, and by mounting the sealing block yieldingly in its recess, either of the doors may be removed from and inserted in the case while at any point along the length of its guiding rails by merely lifting such door to release its lower edge from its lower guiding rail and then swinging such door outwardly, the sealing block moving upwardly in its recess to accommodate such lifting movement of the door. Since the upper edges of the doors with which the sealing block cooperates are continuous or unnotched throughout their lengths, no openings are left through which air may pass into or out of the case.

According to the particular embodiment of the present invention shown and hereinbefore described, both of the doors may be opened and closed by sliding them longitudinally along their rails, the sealing block bearing slidably on the upper edges of the doors between the grooves therein and in the upper groove of the outer door, and when the doors are fully closed their inner ends will overlap in the region opposite to the sealing block as shown in Fig. 1 the portion 32 of the sealing block which bears on the upper edges of the inner and outer doors between the grooves therein then filling the space between these portions of the upper edges of the doors and the upper frame member 5 and also closing the groove I2 in the outer door, thus preventing the passage of air through these spaces, the substantial filling of the upper grooves II and I2 by the upper rails 9 and IIJ `closing these grooves at each side of the sealing block against the direct passage 'of air into or out of the case. Removal of either door may be effected by simply lifting such door, while at any point along the `length of its rails until its lower edge is free to swing outwardly over its lower rail, and then swinging the lower portion of the door outwardly, the sealing block yielding upwardly sufficiently to permit such lifting-movement of the door, and although the rib or extension 33 ts closely in and substantially closes the groove I2 in the top of the door ll, the block fits sufciently loosely in its recess andits sponge rubber or resilient backing is suiliciently yieldable to allow the block to tilt slightly and thus permit removal of the door without binding on the sealing block. Insertion of either door into the case at any point along the length of the guiding rails may be similarly accomplished by first engaging the upper edge of the door with its upper rail then lifting the door suiiiciently to permit its lower end to be swung inwardly over its lower rail after which the door is lowered into its operative position, the sealing block yielding upwardly during the lifting of the door incident to its insertion into the case. After the door has been lowered to its normal operative position on its lower rail, the sealing block will automatically move downwardly by gravity or under the action of the sponge rubber member 35 or other yielding means to bring it into air sealing engagement with the doors. When the sealing block is applied to doors which are mounted vertically instead of inclined as shown, the close fitting of the rib 33 thereon in the groove I2 in the top of the outer door will prevent the doors from swinging inwardly and outwardly.

What I claim is:-

LA display case having a door frame comprising upper and lower members provided with rails, a plurality of doors slidable on the rails in the door frame and overlapping while in closed position, the doors being movable upwardly in the frame for removal, and a sealing member tted in the upper frame member and engaging the! tops of the doors where they overlap when closed to form an air seal at that point between the tops of the doors and the upper door frame member, said sealing member being movable upwardly to permit removal of a door from the case while the door occupies any position in the case.

2. A display case having a door frame comprising upper and lower members provided with rails, a pair of doors grooved at their upper and lower edges to slide on the rails and overlapping while closed, and a sealing member having a portion engaging the upper edges of the doors where they overlap and having another portion engaging in and filling the groove in the upper edge of the outer door, said sealing member being fitted in the upper frame member to move upwardly and thereby permit lifting one or the other of the doors for insertion or remo-val.

3. A display case having a door frame comprising upper and lower members provided with rails, a pair of doors grooved at their upper and lower edges to slide on the rails and overlapping while closed, the doors being movable upwardly in the frame for removal, the upper frame member having a; recess Vtherein adjacent to the region where the doors-overlap when closed, and a sealing member tted in said recess and having portions slidably engaging the upper edges of the doors and in the groove in the upper-'edge of the outer door, said sealing member being movable upwardly in said recess to permit lifting of one or the other door for removal.

4. A display case having a door frame comprising upper and lower members each provided with a pair of rails, a pair of doors grooved at theirupper and lower edges to slide on the rails and overlapping while closed, one of the rails on the upper frame member being interrupted adjacent the region of the overlapping portions of the closed doors, the doors being movable upwardly in the frame for removal, and a sealing member located in the interruption in the upper rail and having portions slidably engaging the top edges of the doors and in the groove in the top edge of the outer door, said sealing member being movable upwardly with respect to the upper frame member when one or the other of the doors is lifted.

5. A display case having a door frame comprising upper and lower members each provided with a pair of rails, a pair of doors grooved at their upper and lower edges to slide on the rails and overlapping when closed, one of the rails on the upper frame member being interrupted in the region where the doors overlap when cle-sed and the upper frame member having a recess adjacent to said rail interruption, and a sealing block tted in said-recess and rail interruption to yield upwardly therein and slidably engaging the upper edges of the doors to seal the spaces between said edges and the upper frame member and having a portion tting in the groove in the upper edge of the outer door.

6. A display case having a dooi` frame comprising upper and lower members each provided with a pair of rails, a pair of doors grooved at their upper and lower edges to slide on the rails and overlapping when closed, one of the rails on the upper frame member being interrupted in the region where the doors overlap when closed and the upper frame member having a recess adjacent to said rail interruption, and a sealing block fitted in said recess and rail interruption to yield upwardly therein and slidably engaging the upper edges of the doors to seal the spaces between said edges and the upper frame member and having a portion fitting in the groove in the upper edge of the outer door, said sealing block having projections thereon engageable with the upper frame member to limit the downward movement of the sealing block.

'7. A display case having a door frame comprising upper and lower members each provided with a pair of rails, a pair of doors grooved at their upper and lower edges to slide on the rails and overlapping when closed, one of the rails on the upper frame member being interrupted in the region where the doors overlap when closed and the upper frame member having a recess adjacent to said rail interruption, a sealing block tted in said recess and rail interruption to yield upwardly therein and slidably engaging the upper edges of the doors to seal the spaces between said edges and the upper frame member and having a portion fitting in the groove in the upper edge of the outer door to close it, and means in said recess and operative on the sealing block to yieldably force it downwardly to engage the upper edges of the doors.

8. Al door frame comprising upper and lower members, a plurality of doors slidable in the door frame and overlapping while in a closed position; the doors being movable upwardly in the frame for removal, and a closure member fitted in the upper `frame member, and engaging the top of at least one of the doors to form a closure between the top thereof and the upper frame member, said closure member being movable upwardly to permit removal of al door from the case while such door occupies any position in the case.

9. A door frame for a display case comprising upper and lower frame members, a plurality of 10 doors slidable in thedoor frame and movable from the case while such door occupies any position in the oase.

HARRY E. CASE. 

